The invention concerns a system for displaying information on distributed automated transaction machines.
The information which is to be displayed is stored in a central unit and is transferred to a local unit for display on a screen in an automated transaction machine under the control of the local unit. Which of a plurality of information messages is to be displayed is decided on the basis of a number of criteria determined by the person who wishes to distribute the information message.
Local data processing stations which comprise a screen for displaying information are already widespread in the form of cash dispensers. Other similar stations also exist, and will become more and more common in the future, for example in the form of automated ordering machines for air tickets, information columns for tourist information, timetables for trains and buses, as well as publicly accessible terminals for connection to the Internet. A common feature of all of these will be that pauses will always arise, for example while a request from the user is being processed, while data are being transferred, while information is printed out, for example in the form of a receipt, etc. During these pauses it is possible to utilize the station""s screen for displaying a message. It will also be possible to utilize a part of the screen display to convey the message, for example in the form of a banner running along the top or bottom edge of the screen while the rest of the screen display is employed by the local station.
A number of these data processing stations, hereinafter called automated transaction machines, will often be linked to one another and to one or more central data units via a communication network. This network may be a dedicated data network or telephone network.
It is already known to use the screen on a cash dispenser for presenting information concerning payment cards, loans and other services offered by the owner bank. However, these messages are mainly displayed between transactions, while no user is watching the screen, and the messages cannot be effectively adapted to the automated transaction device""s geographical location, time of day and the like. Nor is it possible to keep track in an efficient manner of the number of presentations of a given message for invoicing to a specific customer, viz. the person behind the presentation of the message.
It is therefore an object by means of this system to allow a customer who wishes to have his message exposed to specify under which conditions the information message has to be displayed on the screen of an automated transaction machine. Such conditions may be geographical location of the automated transaction machine, owner of the automated transaction machine, the environment in which the automated transaction machine is located (in a shopping centre, eating-house, petrol station, airport, etc.), time of day, day of the week, etc., type of user access to the automated transaction machine (type of account with which a bank card is associated, form of payment for service, etc.), or what kind of target group the message is intended for (sex, age, etc.). The customer must also be able to specify a lowest and a desired number of exposures per day for a given information message.
It is a further object of the present invention to be able to invoice each exposure of an information message to a specific customer.
Moreover, it is an object to be able to store as comprehensive information as possible concerning the exposures, in order to be able to produce sophisticated invoicing mechanisms, analyses of user groups and user patterns.
It is also an object of the present invention to indicate how the activity in an automated transaction machine can be monitored, thus enabling pauses in a transaction to be detected and the information message displayed in the most effective manner possible.
These and further objects are achieved by means of the features which are stated in the patent claims.
It is not possible in every case to guarantee a desired number of exposures. However, by means of statistical material on the use of the automated transaction machines, it is possible to indicate with a high degree of certainty a probable exposure result. In competition with other media it can be important to safeguard the advantage offered by electronic exposure, viz. the ability to monitor every single exposure. As an example a cash dispenser located in the vicinity of an eating-house may be envisaged. The cash dispenser has on average 100 users per day. The standard deviation, however, is 50, so it is difficult to guarantee a high number of exposures per day. Per week an average of 700 use the cash dispenser, but the standard deviation is still 50, so it is easier to guarantee a certain number of exposures per week. This is natural since the standard deviation normally drops for longer periods of time, but this is not always the case. Since the cash dispenser in the example is located in the vicinity of an eating-house, on Fridays and Saturdays it has on average 200 users, with a standard deviation of 30. Even though this is a shorter period it is possible to guarantee a larger number of exposures than the average number of exposures per day might indicate.
The collection and application of such information is nothing new, but to build database products which support this is complicated. In order to collect the necessary information one generally has to turn to user surveys. In the system according to the invention all such information is available and it is sufficient to process the information in order to be able to use it.